Brian Matambo | 22 June 2026

South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal will deliver judgment tomorrow, June 23, 2026, in the protracted legal battle over the remains of former Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu.

The Lungu family is challenging the August 8, 2025 judgment of the Pretoria High Court, which ordered that the former President’s remains be handed over to the Zambian Government for repatriation, a state funeral and burial in Zambia.

During the appeal hearing on May 29, lawyers for the family argued that the High Court wrongly placed control of the burial in the hands of the State instead of Mr Lungu’s widow and immediate family. They maintained that, under established principles governing burial rights, the wishes of the surviving spouse should prevail.

The Government argued that an agreement had previously been reached with the family for a state funeral in Zambia and that the State retained an interest in the burial of a former Head of State.

Mr Lungu died in South Africa on June 5, 2025, aged 68. Plans to bury him in Johannesburg were halted after the Zambian Government approached the South African courts, beginning a bitter legal contest that has now lasted more than a year.

The dispute is rooted in the breakdown of trust between the family and the administration of President Hakainde Hichilema. The family has repeatedly opposed arrangements that would place President Hichilema at the centre of the funeral, citing the political hostility and treatment Mr Lungu endured after leaving office.

Tomorrow’s judgment could finally determine whether the former President’s remains will be repatriated for a state funeral in Zambia or returned to his family to conduct the burial according to its wishes.